This is a collection of northern stories - polar bear, arctic and otherwise from Churchill, Manitoba, Canada - the polar
bear capital of the world.

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October 20-Nov. 6, 2007
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October 1-14, 2007
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Hudson Bay Quest 2007
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Archived articles

Polar Bear Alley

This is a collection of northern stories - polar bear, arctic and otherwise from Churchill, Manitoba, Canada - the polar
bear capital of the world.

EMAIL POLAR BEAR ALLEY

Churchill Travel Guide
Hotels in Churchill, Manitoba
Travel to Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill, Manitoba Links

Polar Bear Alley Expeditions
Polar Bears of Churchill Book
Polar Bears of Churchill Facts
Polar Bear Photo Gallery
Beluga Whale Photo Gallery
Polar Bear News 
Polar Bear Attack Page

Weather in Churchill, Manitoba
Tide Table for Churchill 
Churchill Aurora Forecast 


Polar Bear Alley

Polar Bear Blog - Bear Season Wrap-up - November 21, 2007

Everyone is gone and as I love to say, frozen tumbleweeds are rolling down the streets of Churchill. As the tourists left, winter moved in. After a mild October, we are now in the thick of a cold snap, about ten degrees below the 'normals' for this time of year. I'll be heading out to stack more firewood, strategically placed to reduce 'driftage' (my word) as in moved to the other side of the house so that it does not create a 10' snow drift outside the front door. I feel ahead of the game this year, one more pass on the winter road today should pack down a really nice base and the yard is about as clean as a redneck hippy - a 'rippy' - yard gets...

This was a quiet 'bear season' this year - no bears at the door (only one or two bears at Camp Nanuq - there were more at Goose Creek), a couple broken buses but none in the ditch (okay only one but it was empty), no late night car crashes and the bears ended up leaving pretty much on time (maybe a few days late but not too bad...). Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to visit to kick off the season but Governor Arnold never made it, even though I am sure he would have if the wildfires hadn't ravaged California... next year, next year...

No significant blizzards and the weather patterns were about a week or so 'late'. Polar Bear Alert officers had a quiet first half of the season until things went bonkers around November 4th and bears were in town every night (and many days...). Peak season for bears in 'buggyland' hit around November 3rd and lasted until the bears left on November 17th... Lots of mothers and cubs in November and good bear behaviour.

The big events this year involved bears hunting in 'bear season'. There were several seal kills (a good thing for the bears), one caribou (i think it got caught in the tide) and even one muskrat (a cub got it). The seals are kind of big news for me. I really think that the amount of seals seen and seal kills witnessed (or almost witnessed) means that the ringed seal population in Hudson Bay is huge right now, probably well in excess of the last estimate of nearly half a million. Considering we need about 10,000 ringed seals to feed this population of bears, the bears have a good start - only 9,989 to go...

A baby caribou survived the whole season walking around 'buggyland' and I wish him well for the winter. This was also the year of the red fox, lots of them around in every phase - red, cross and silver. Other common sightings included lemmings and muskrats, indicating that rodent populations must be doing well so next summer should have a bounty of predators! Good for wildlife watchers...

The say that the Hudson Bay Railline was a complete disaster this season would be a bit of an understatement. For the first time that I can remember, grain cars were given priority over passenger trains. In fact, I think you would be hard pressed to find another railway that does this anywhere in the world, let alone in the middle of peak tourist season. It was a good day when the train was only four hours late - bad days, well, try ten hours late... Don't book a trip to Churchill by train next year until this has been resolved - even then, don't schedule anything on your first day except 'arriving'.

This has to be remedied for next year but its a tricky balance between the Port of Churchill and tourism. Oh, and did I mention that as soon as the last tourist left town, the next train arrived... at 10:30am, a record breaking two hours late!!! I kind of knew that would happen.

Another big issue is L5, our massive failure of a waste and recycling station. I think you can safely say that we are twisting in the wind right now - no real solution for garbage and unable to continue piling garbage in this building. It is a real attractant for polar bears that is two miles closer to town than the previous dump (hence, more bears at Goose Creek cabins than Camp Nanuq cabins...).

We were planning on building a new incinerator but that has recently fallen apart. It seems that another group of consultants or government bureaucrats decided that we should use the heat from the incinerator at L5 to heat the Town Complex. This, of course, involved building a five mile long heat duct between L5 and the town and that has put the project up from $2million to maybe $7-8 million. GONG!!!

But... something has to be done, before next bear season. This garbage is bringing bears closer to town and creating a situation where more bears are chased, drugged and handled by Polar Bear Alert. There is more of a chance of someone getting hurt and, as a result, a polar bear being destroyed.

So as every level of government stops in Churchill for a photo-op and every non-profit organization makes announcements of 'saving polar bears', remember that until the real issue of garbage and Churchill is solved, all of it is, as a good friend of mine likes to say, 'pixie dust'.

Oh, this is a good one too. The latest gossip is that the town now wants to open a garbage dump at Mile 4 gravel pit (you read it first here this summer...). Hmmm, the province rejected my alternative energy ecolodge proposal but now we think they will approve a new garbage dump right on the coast of Hudson Bay. That's sounds crazy, doesn't it?

Polar Bear Blog - Number Nine Number Nine - November 20, 2007

Bear season number nine is over and done for me and I am at Camp Nanuq enjoying my morning coffee. This time, I am drinking coffee for the pleasure of it, not just pouring caffeine into my system to keep moving. It a clear and cold day, perfect to stack wood, continue building the winter road and just enjoy the wash of relief and withdrawal that comes with the end of bear season, probably my best 'bear season' yet - although I am planning something special for number ten...

Of course, there are only a few more days or relaxation until our bonus season picks up... The movie crew started trickling in yesterday, location scouts were the first to arrive and the producer and director are slated to land in Churchill today. However, I have a feeling that after filming in South Africa, Churchill's -34C windchill might be a tad overwhelming.

Regardless, its both exciting and strange to be looking at another 'bear season' minus the bears looming in the near future. Bottom line is it pays the bills, and that's a good thing.

Polar Bear Blog - Last of the Polar Bear Gossip - November 19, 2007

When I first came up here, I was a pretty ecofreako guy, a genuine mosshugger, I suppose I still am... I mean I still read about bears and nature and climate, etc. but I have to confess that I have officially jumped off the climate change bandwagon.

Its strange to say, since I was hoping to build a solar/wind powered ecolodge (for which I was denied permission due to global warming... long story) and hope to bring a used veggie oil diesel up here and am a dealer for ecofriendly products. But, climate change in the media and even in science now is too skewed for me to buy into anymore... and this is the feeling with most if not all of the people up here who know anything about bears.

I mean guys who have been in the polar bear industry for twenty plus years and people who have watched these bears over the years and know the polar bears of western Hudson Bay and know the Churchill area better than anyone. I enjoy listening to people, playing devil's advocate and trading polar bear tales and this season a lot of polar bear people who I look up to are getting really tired of everyone 'saving the polar bears'.

It would not be a big deal if it was only one or two of us but this year it is coming from many individuals. They are sick of the talk that in ten or twenty years these bears will be gone and that polar bears may be extinct in 50 years. These people read the science but also listen to local knowledge. They know the land and the arctic and these bears. They include photographers and tour operators, former polar bear alert officers and former buggy drivers. They know the history and the secrets of bear season and have a better perspective for interpreting trends in this population than anyone else.

A lot of us feel that only the most alarming statistics are being chosen and circulated and that if you do not simply agree that the 'polar bears are in peril' you be dismissed as 'having your head in the sand'. 'The bears are starving' is almost a local joke now, not because we do not care about bears, quite the contrary, but because so many people with so little knowledge of this area are declaring themselves champions of what many of us consider our bears.

I would never claim to be against sustainable living - reducing pollution, preserving habitat, etc - but this is starting to feel more like a 'see the bears before they are gone' marketing campaign than anything to do with sustainable development and the bears' best interest.

Polar Bear Blog - Almost Almost... - November 18, 2007

So my first 'bear season' group has been great, we have gone from open water and only a bit of grease ice on the bay to a full sheet of white and the last of the season's bears. Lots of wildlife and snow and cold and even a 'Ducks Unlimited date', everything a Churchill trip should be...

It is a beautiful morning, hoar frost everywhere and a few puffy snowflakes floating around, a nice end to the trip. But, of course, any northern trip would not be complete without a bit of a scheduling hiccup. This time, it is not the north that is complicating life but the south.

We were slated to fly out around 11am but now I am rescheduling hotel rooms and looking for group activities on the 'day after' in Churchill. The charter airline company we are using is based in Florida or something like that and they have stringent safety policies - one of which includes that they will not land in any airport where there is not 0% frozen precipitation if the airport does not have a Level Four De-icing Equipment. That pretty much excludes most airports other than Pearson in Toronto and JFK in New York...

Level Four De-icing is intended for planes that may end up waiting in queue for forty minutes plus - it prevents new ice forming while the plane is in line behind ten or twenty others. Of course, Churchill has only three planes leaving in the next TWENTY FOUR HOURS and we do have de-icing equipment which works fine for everyone else and we really don't even need to de-ice today but the charter company hired a consultant last summer to improve their safety manual and I suppose not being able to fly at all is pretty safe. We'll see how flexible policy becomes as their plane sits not making money in Winnipeg for the next couple days...

On the other hand, maybe there will be spectacular northern lights tonight...

Polar Bear Blog - Goodbye Bears - November 17, 2007

I think I wrote this earlier in the blog but I might as well say it again, because I fell into the same trap... as soon as everyone starts talking about climate change and the bears staying on land until December, the ice will come and the bears will leave. And that's what happened.

A few days ago, we started talking about a late freezeup and some thought that maybe the bears would be around until early December. Today, there is ice as far as the eye can see and our day out on the tundra buggies was still very nice - we saw almost twenty bears, but most have moved out on the ice. These are the stragglers, mothers and cubs hanging back until the larger males and young punks have moved well out on the ice and a few subadults, young enough not to know to head out on the ice as soon as they can.

Tomorrow, I would be very surprised if more than a handful of bears are left. It is over folks... wish the bears good luck and godspeed.

Polar Bear Blog - Hudson Bay Ice - November 15, 2007

Freezeup is later than normal this year so here are a few of the ice charts to help everyone understand how the ice forms up here and where we should be right now...

Ice Formation on Hudson Bay Nov 14 - Tracking freezeup along the coast of Hudson Bay.

Ice Conditions 2007 vs. Normal Conditions - the red signifies the areas that should be frozen by this time of year but are not.

Ice Prediction for 2007 - Here is the Environment Canada ice formation prediction for Hudson Bay.

Historical Ice Formation - See how the ice season has changed over the last thirty five years. This chart covers late June through late October. In other words, the decline in ice cover shows how Hudson Bay's polar bears have had to spend more time on land as of late.

Of course, my 'polar bear voodoo' prediction is that freezeup and the bears' 'exit stage left' occurs three weeks after the first day of real sparring in buggyland. Judging by this year, that should mean about November 24th.

Polar Bear Blog - Bring on the Diamond Drilling! - November 15, 2007

In about a week or two a diamond drilling rig will be set up in Churchill and everyone is pretty excited about it. Both tundra vehicle camps have been rented to serve as a movie set for a 'two-part adventure/drama mini-series' called 'Rough', slated to begin filming here this December. Rough is a diamond-industry drama that ranges from South Africa, the UK and finally Canada. (And for all you Dennis' Diaries fans, this is where he has turned up. He is working with film crews this year, mostly BBC, and scouting/coordinating for this group as well...) More information can be found here at allafrica.com. So, just as 'bear season' is winding down, we have another bonus season winding up.

There's also another group from Holland over here scouting for another film shoot after bear season 2008, this time about a lost rock star but we'll save that for another time. These projects are a real boon to Churchill's economy with another three weeks of work for many people post-polar bear. And, at least this year, they way things are looking right now, three more weeks for a few polar bear security personnel as well.

The winds yesterday did not push in the ice that many of us expected and the shore ice build up is still less than it was a week ago. There is still a light northwest wind and it is around -10C but it really is a beautiful winter day outside, for me at least. It been a 'warm freeze' this year and there are still pockets of thin ice.

Yesterday, the Lazy Bear Tundra Bus broke through the ice at Brian Ladoon's dogs, sinking right down to the frame. One of those moments that makes you shudder as you drive by, silently thanking the fates that you weren't driving when it happened. The last I saw, their other bus was out there trying to pull it out but I don't know if they had much luck.

I know that Tundra Buggy is also talking of moving Cape 1 out to Cape Churchill - this year's marquee tour started at Gordon Point because the coast is not frozen enough to make it into Wapusk National Park. They have had great bears in buggyland but halfway through the trip, they are itching to get out east. I think they will try but I would be surprised if the trip doesn't cost them $50-60K in repairs...

Polar Bear Blog - Re-Restart and New Start - November 14, 2007

Maybe I have said this before, but this time I mean it, today is the beginning of the end. The rewind button has been pressed on freezeup at least twice this season, once in late October and again last week. Today, strong north winds and -20 windchill and starting the process all over again. This time, the weather forecast implies that mother nature is taking her efforts a bit more seriously this time.

Its a day off for me before my last group (and Polar Bear Alley's first bear season group ever! Hmm, I can't remember if I mentioned that to my clients or not...). Anyways, I always get inquiries through the blog here and this year a group hoped to come up in late October (which is always booked a year in advance...). So given the ice conditions and weather this year, I suggested we schedule a last minute group for Nov 15-18th and then I proceeded to pray that the ice would still be here...

And so far, things have worked out, even with these north winds, not much ice has built up yet. It seems the ice that was here blew out into the bay far enough that this norwester has probably pushed it past Cape or maybe on to the tip of Cape Churchill itself. You could say its a strange year...

So, right now, things look great for the group and it could be a really nice end to my best bear season yet. So good, that I will probably book a few bear season tours for next year, most likely an early season Hiking/Buggy tour October 10-15 and a prime season Bears Bears and More Bears Tour November 10-15. We'll see, I'm in the queue for buggy rental dates so keep your fingers crossed... I'll find out at month's end!

And finally uploaded my pics of the big boys out in buggyland right now, hopefully, we'll see them this weekend...

Dancer

Ray

Scarface

Polar Bear Blog - Big Bears, Big Numbers - November 12, 2007

This was a good day in buggyland. There has to be around forty or more bears out there right now plus arctic fox, snowy owl and ptarmigan today. We had a nice variety of bears, close and far, and our driver, Val, was very cognizant of bear behaviour and their well-being. Another nice day.

There is a wide range of bears, mothers and cubs, subadults, sparring partners, sleeping bears and, of course, big old bears, at least three of them over fifteen years of age. One of them, naturally, is our regular bear season celebrity, Dancer. I thought I recognized him - the bear they call Scarface is not Dancer after all... He was rolling on the ice and being a lazy male, putting on a pretty good show. As we pulled away, I figured I would see if he still recognized his name so I called out 'Hey, Dancer'. He looked over and watched our buggy as we pulled away, holding his gaze long enough to be proof for me. I think this is his eighth season coming to Churchill so that means he is probably somewhere around eighteen or twenty years old now. He still looks good, even if his beard is a little longer.

Of the two other big guys, there is Scarface who also looks to be at least 18, with a hooked and crooked and scarred up nose. He is a ragged looking bear with two fresh and deep wounds on his head. And then there is Radar, he is a good looking dominant male that has been here for three or four seasons now. He was named Radar by a group of Earthwatch scientists studying sparring behaviour. They're pretty anti-anthropomorphisisming so they picked Radar (as in he is the bear after 'Q' name and before 'S' name). However, I prefer to call him Ray, he kind of has that stony, penetrating Ray Liotta gaze. He's a big and good looking bear, movie star material.

These are big bears, probably standing 10-12' tall and weighin upwards of 1200lbs in the spring, when they are fat on seals and surging with testosterone. Compelling and initimating right now, its pretty incredibly to imagine the battles they must go through for mates in the spring.

Polar Bear Blog - Two Less Seals - November 11, 2007

We headed out into buggyland on a tour with Great White Bear today. Our first stop was a gathering of bears out on the newly forming ice (which once again has been redistributed by changing winds). Twelve bears were visible, sitting together and circling around each other. Soon, through the spotting scope we saw the reason, a big red spot on the ice... there had been an early season seal kill.

We watched as bears ate and moved in and out from the kill to take their piece of the action. Quickly it was gone and with only enough left to please the ravens, the bears dispersed. What a wonderful start to the day, another rare treat this season.

But then, it happened again! Around one o'clock, we were parked by Gordon Point having lunch and watching a mother with cub. I was scanning the horizon for bears when I saw two bears running across the sea ice of the neighbouring bay. Only one reason for that... another seal kill.

I mentioned it to the driver and we headed over, once again, the bears were way out on the ice, at least seven or eight of them jostling over and sharing the kill. Soon, this too was over and a mother and cub headed towards our buggy to end the day!

A nice treat considering my whole intent was to get out there and see Dancer - he came back a couple days ago but now seems to carry the moniker Scarface but I will stick with Dancer. Maybe tomorrow we'll track him down, sounds like he is still in decent shape but maybe not a fat as last year.

Polar Bear Blog - Pause - November 9, 2007

It is a rare and treasured bear season morning when I can sit with my laptop and coffee and write a bit. Staying in town right now, finished my last day with the Japanese film crew yesterday, we flew out to Cape Churchill, circling the point, filming the pancake ice and sparring polar bears. Its a beautiful trip and at least twenty bears were gathered along the coast. Now I am just waiting for the Churchill Nature Tours group to come in. Bear season has once again shifted gears for me.

But I'm in neutral until 9:30am and its nice to sit here look out the window and watch Polar Bear Alert truck buzz past this way and that, escorting bears along the coastal side of town. Its great to relax to the sound of gunfire on one side and trucks warming up on the other, nice to know that there are some places where you can walk out your door, turn on your vehicle and walk back in side, as sits unlocked and idling.

Another morning to give my body a rest from early starts and late nights, from fifteen cups of coffee a day and white bread and restaurant food, from questions, requests, answers, plans, directions and schedules. Whether you want to or not, the constant grind of bear season gradually slides you into a state of perpetual unhealthiness. Working everyday and swept away in the intensity and energy of the season, you will away sickness and sleep, only to have it wait in the wings until the last tourist leaves and it carries you off, replete with chicken soup and tylenol, to the couch for a week or two or five.

Polar Bear Blog - Bears on Ice - November 8, 2007

The bears are swarming Churchill today. It is cold, but not too cold, however, north winds have pushed the pancake ice to shore. Today is the first day where enough pancakes have been overlapped, squished, mashed and crunched together to form a solid platform of ice. This is a good day for bears.

Each year, the bears all rush out to test the first solid ice and maybe find a seal or two. You can feel a real sense of excitement in the bears and you can feel that 'bear season' has turned its last corner, the end is coming, probably in a week or two.

Today was also a good day for me. With most of our shot checklist covered, we were chasing bears today. And what a day to be chasing bears. We started off with out usual Polar Bear Alert paparazzi (they must just cringe when they see me coming now...) and - bingo - a bear in the trap behind town. Then as I scoped out that area, I saw one bear sleeping to the east of us and another slipped quietly past us, skirting the coast as he tried to pass by town.

Polar Bear Alert caught wind of this and chased them out of town only to find one if not two others cruising along the coastline. The morning was filled with high-speed chases, stakeouts and gunfire, I really felt so Steve McQueen - it was great! 'Hey man, you work your side of the street, I'll work mine' That's Bullitt if you were wondering...

After a double helping of breakfast at Gypsy's we headed out for 'a mother and two cubs walking on ice in nice light with open water in the background please and then we can call it a day'. No one ever said that film crews were easy.

Then as we headed out of town, we saw first one bear walking on the ice and then over the next ridge another on the ice and then two out on the ice then one more, all searching for seals and testing the frozen waters. And finally the motherlode, literally.

We passed by Brian's bears (two more big old males that follow his truck around), headed down to Brian's beach and there they were. First a mother with two coys - cubs of the year - were weaving through the shore ice, headed towards town like every other bear today. We set up to film her when we saw another family, this time mother with yearlings, and then ANOTHER family - coys again. It kept coming too, they were followed by a single bear who was followed by a mother and single cub. We stood on the beach with twelve bears cruising along in front of us. At one point, the mother with yearlings walked by us, maybe only 60m away, only her cubs occasionally looking over at our strange little international crowd on the beach. What a stellar day, no vehicles, no noise, nothing except bears and us.

All told, including our first friend in the trap, we saw 22 polar bears today just by driving a rental vehicle along the road system and by knowing where to look given the weather conditions, bear behaviour and the time of year. All from ground level. I love chasing bears.

Polar Bear Blog - Bad Boy of the Arctic - November 7, 2007

There's a Tom Mangelsen print that is pretty famous up here. It is a photograph of three young male bears sitting back, almost reclining on the ice, called 'Bad Boys of the Arctic'. It kind of captures the spirit of the up and coming males of the polar bear population, a little bit lazy, a little bit surly.

Today, we filmed one such young male strolling around Camp Nanuq. He was maybe four or five and in excellent shape for this time of year, a nice clean coat and even a slight ripple of fat on him. We saw him walking towards my cabin so pulled up and waited for him to come in.

Once he saw the vehicle his head went up and alertly he jogged a bit until his comfort range was established and he assessed the situation. Soon, curiousity overtook him and he walked, cautious and determined, straight towards the truck. Once there, he circled us three times, coming nose to nose with my driver's window, which made us pretty much eye level and then stood up right in front of the truck, which made us pretty much not eye level.

Eventually, he strolled away, heading over to Spruce Ridge to check out more cabins. We caught up with him there, and this time, used to our vehicle, he let us film him as he walked past the cabins, down the road and towards the coast. He was a very nice bear and a good example of how quickly bears learn and adapt to situations.